History

Established in 2004, the Australian Talented Youth Project (ATY Project) is a multi-arts mentoring program for young Australians in the areas of music, dance, visual arts, creative writing, film production, and drama. It is aimed at fostering young people's cultural leadership, while developing their artistic potential. This unique program is the first national, residential mentoring program for young, emerging artists in Australia, and brings together all major creative and performing arts within a collaborative model. The students aged 16-25 years are selected by on the basis of their development potential, existing skills, social and/or geographical dislocation, and leadership capacity. We especially encourage those from remote and rural areas of Australia, who may not readily be able to access high level tutorship. These young artists were matched with leading figures in their field of the arts to undergo an intensive week-long residential mentoring program at the Australian National University. In addition to the daily mentoring sessions, the participants are given a tour of Canberra's best sights and attractions, are addressed by keynote speakers. In their free time the artists may choose to relax with their new friends, practice what they have learnt from their mentors or enjoy some quiet time in the college dormitories. The program culminates with a multi-artistic stage performance prepared by the participants, having exchanged their creative ideas across the various areas of the arts. The Australian Talented Youth Project continues to keep in touch with many of the 51 alumni. Past events: ATYP 2007 ATYP 2008 ATYP 2010 National Arts Summit 2013, ATYP Mentoring, February 2016